25 June 2016

Lifestyle | Not Being Defined By A Number

Numbers are everywhere, on the scales, on our bank slips, on our social media. This generation has a habit of letting numbers take over, and I don’t know how I feel about it…

‘To be happy, I need to lose at least 2 stone’

‘Aaah, I only need 60 followers to reach 5000, then I’ll have really made it’

‘I need at least another £1000 to fuel my spending habits’

It is everywhere. They are everywhere. Numbers.

As of recently, heck, as of ever, I have seen people use numbers to set goals. ‘I must reach XY’, and what have you. I mean, it is great to have something to strive for; I was like this once too. But I have started to come to the realisation that it can develop into something that is somewhat unhealthy, and in some respect damaging to a person’s mentality, much like it was to mine. People are becoming infatuated by a little scribble on a screen or a piece of paper that, to them, ultimately decides their mood and how they are going to feel for the rest of the day/week/month.

‘I feel shit because I only lost 1 pound this week’

‘My Instagram followers have been on 500 for ages, I feel like I’m getting nowhere with this’

Why, as a society, have we begun to let numbers define us? To define our success? To define our joy? I think we need an intervention here, ladies and gentlemen. Let us all sit-down and take part in a sort of number detox, if you will, flushing out and away all those hundreds and thousands and replacing them with something a little bit easier, a lighter idea that calms the mind and brings a sense of peace.

Happiness.

We should strive for happiness. We shouldn’t give ourselves all this ‘I need to lose 3 stone to be happier’, we should work our arses off, not step on the scale and when we reach that moment of looking in the mirror and feeling better about yourself, that is when you have reached that goal. It shouldn’t have to be numbered, labelled, ticked off on a little ticky box list. Your blog/social media isn’t going to be successful when it’s reached 100,000 across all platforms. It’s successful when you have created an amazing community of a-like people who bring great conversation, laughter and friendship – that is happiness without numbers. It’s about being inspired and feeling content with those involved in those channels. It is not about the milestones that we reach; it is about the bonds that we make.

Now I’m not sitting here to say STOP DOING THIS and STOP DOING THAT because, bloody hell we’re only human – and most of the time, we can’t even take our own advice. Heck, I will probably still sit and think to myself ‘Oh, but when I reach 20k on Instagram…’. But it’s just something to think about, to take a step back and look at the reality of things. I don’t want people to remember me by ‘eee, she had loads of followers on Twitter!’, I want people to say ‘hey, she had a bloody wonderful heart’.